Protein-acrolein acetal complex ruminant feed material

ABSTRACT

IMPROVED PROTEIN FEED MATERIAL FOR RUMINANTS WHICH IS RESISTANT TO DIGESTIVE BREAKDOWN IN THE RUMEN BUT NOT IN THE ABOMASUM AND/OR INTESTINES WHICH COMPRISES THE REACTION PRODUCT OF A PROTEIN-CONTAINING FEED MATERIAL AND AN ACROLEIN ACETAL. EXEMPLARY OF SUCH AEROLEIN ACETALS IS ACROLEIN DIMETHYL ACETAL.

United States Patent O 3,711,290 PROTEIN-ACROLEIN ACETAL COMPLEX RUMINANT FEED MATERIAL Robert E. Miller, Ballwin, M0., assignor to Monsanto Company, St. Louis, M0.

N Drawing. Filed Oct. 27, 1970, Ser. No. 84,477 Int. Cl. A23k 1/00 U.S. Cl. 99-2 R 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Improved protein feed material for ruminants which is resistant to digestive breakdown in the rumen but not in the abomasum and/or intestines which comprises the reaction product of a protein-containing feed material and an acrolein acetal. Exemplary of such acrolein acetals is acrolein dimethyl acetal.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention Description of the prior art The digestive system of the ruminant animal (cattle, sheep, bison, camels, etc.) is designed to permit efficient use of coarse, fibrous foodstuffs. Because of its particular structure and nature, however, the ruminants digestive system is inefiicient in obtaining nutritional value from protein materials. Principally for this reason it is common practice in ruminant nutrition to supplement the diet of the animal with added protein. The supplemental protein serves to increase the rate of growth of the animal and in the case of sheep promotes wool growth.

The rumen, the largest of the four stomach compartments of the animal, serves as an important location for digestive breakdown of ingested foodstuffs chiefly through the action of microorganisms present therein. However, absorption of most nutrients for metabolic purposes does not occur in the rumen but takes place further along in the alimentary tract, principally in the abomasum and intestines. Ingested food is typically retained in the rumen for them from about 12-30 hours during which time it is subject to digestive breakdown by the microorganisms and by the rumen fluid. Much ingested protein material is broken down in the rumen to soluble peptides and amino acids. In turn much of these peptides and amino acids are utilized by the microorganisms present in the rumen fl-uid thereby removing them as a source of nutrition for the host animal.

Because of the desirability as indicated above of avoiding protein breakdown in the rumen in order to permit absorption in the abomasum and intestines it has been suggested that nutrient protein containing materials fed to ruminants be treated so as to permit passage without digestive breakdown through the rumen to the abomasum. Suggested procedures have included coating the protein material, for example, with fats and vegetable oils, heat treatment of the protein material and reaction of the protein material with formaldehyde. In any event the treated material must be resistant to digestive breakdown in the rumen fluid, which is a fluid buffered at about pH 6-7 by phosphate-bicarbonate from salvia and carbon dioxide, but subject to breakdown in the acid medium of the ice fluid of the abomasum which has a pH, due principally to hydrochloric acid secretion, of about 2-4.

OBJECTS It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for improving the feed utilization of ruminant animals.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for improving the protein utilization of ruminant animals whereby protein passes through the rumen without substantial digestive breakdown.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the specification and appended claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It has been found in accordance with the present invention that the protein utilization of the ruminant animal is improved by feeding the animal a reaction product of a protein-containing nutrient material and an acrolein acetal.

The amount of acrolein acetal in the reaction product is suflicient to prevent substantial digestive breakdown in the fluid medium of the rumen but insufiicient to prevent digestive breakdown in the fluid media of the abomasum and of the intestines.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The protein-containing reaction product used in the method of the present invention is the reaction product of a protein-containing nutrient feed material and an acrolein acetal. Acrolein acetals of the following general formula are suitable for use in the method of the present invention.

wherein R is an alkyl radical including cycloalkyl having, for example, from 1 to about 18 carbon atoms, and alkaryl, for example, benzyl and ethyl phenyl. Suitable acrolein acetals include acrolein dimethyl acetal, acrolein dipropyl acetal, acrolein dicyclohexyl acetal, acrolein dibenzyl acetal, acrolein dioctadecyl acetal, acrolein heptyl acetal, acrolein diethylphenyl acetal, etc. Because of its ready availability and the excellent results obtained therewith acrolein dimethyl acetal is preferred for use in the method of the present invention.

The protein-containing nutrient material can be from any suitable source including animal, plant, or synthetic sources such as, for example, silage, grains, nuts, chalfs, casein, soy bean meal, fish meal, peanut meal, beef scraps, pork scraps, linseed meal, milk solids, etc.

The useful reaction products of the present invention are prepared by the interaction of acrolein acetal and protein nutrient material by any suitable procedure. The reaction is readily carried out in a suitable solvent medium inert to the reactants and the reaction products. Such suitable inert solvents include water, preferably at pH 8-10, dioxane, and aliphatic hydrocarbons such as pentane and hexane plus an added basic catalyst such as diazabicyclooctne, quaternary ammonium hydroxides and teritary amines. The reaction may be carried out at any suitable temperature, however, elevated temperatures above about 70 C., particularly for extended periods should be avoided to minimize degradation of protein material. Temperatures in the range of from about 10 to about 40 C. are typically employed with room temperature being both suitable and practical. The reaction is preferably carried out by dissolving the casein in aqueous potassium hydroxide (pH 8-10), adding the reactant to the solution and agitating, as by stirring, thereby to permit suflicient reaction of the protein with the acroelin acetal. The treated casein is precipitated from solution by adjusting pH to 2.5-3.2. The thus treated protein is then filtered, dried as by oven drying, drum drying, or simple evaporation to recover the modified protein nutrient material. While not being limited to any particular theory it is believed that the acrolein diacetal serves to crosslink the protein to form a complex which is stable under the pH conditions of the rumen but unstable under the conditions of the abomasum and intestines the crosslinks being formed in the terminal a-arnino groups of various peptide chains or in the e-amino group of lysine or between the amide groups of asparagine and glutamine or between the guanidyl groups of arginine or between any combination of these or other suitable groups available for crosslink- It is important in order to insure operability of th present invention that the amount of acrolein acetal incorporated into the protein be sufficient to prevent digestive breakdown to soluble peptides and amino acids in the rumen but insufficient to prevent digestive breakdown to soluble peptides and amino acids in the abomasum and intestines. This amount will, of course, vary and will depend among other things on the particular protein material, the particular acrolein acetal of choice, the pH of the solvent of reaction, time and temperature of reaction, the species and are of the animal, and the total makeup of the animal diet. Typically an amount in the range of from about 0.0001 to about 0.01 mole of acrolein acetal for each gram of protein contained in the protein material is employed with amounts in the range of from about 0.0005 to about 0.002 mole being generally preferred.

It is to be understood that the modified ruminant protein feed of the present invention can be fed separately to the animal or it can be used for incorporation in other ruminant feed materials. Illustrative of ruminant feed materials in which the protein material of the present invention may be incorporated are soy bean meal, ground corn, hay, straw, cotton seed hulls, cotton mill waste, feed pulp, silage, oats, barley, cereal, brans, cereal middlings and combinations thereof. If desired other components, for example, minerals, such as bone meal, salt, and trace minerals, antibiotics and vitamins may be included in the animal feed ration.

The following examples illustrate the effectiveness of acrolein acetal compositions useful in the present invention in protecting protein-containing material from digestion in the fluid of the rumen while permitting digestion in the fluids of the abomasum and intestines. The small scale in vitro experiments shown in the examples simulate conditions existing in the rumen, in the abomasum and in the intestines thereby permitting the study of treated protein without the use of the live animal and large quantities of feed materials. It is understood that the examples are presented for the purpose of illustration only and the invention is not limited to the compositions or methods shown therein.

EXAMPLE 1 Preparation of treated protein Casein (5.02 grams) was added to a solution of acrolein dimethyl acetal (4.0 grams) in 50 milliliters water (pH 8.0). The resulting solution was stirred for about 4 hours at room temperature to permit reaction of the acrolein dimethyl acetal with casein. The reaction mixture was acidified, the precipitate filtered and dried to obtain protein product containing 0.007 mole of acrolein dimethyl acetal per gram of casein.

Rumen digestion test To milliilters of rumen fluid from fasted sheep contained in a 50 milliliter glass flask was added 10 milliliters of a buttered solution of the following composition.

Butter solution in grams per liter NaI-I PO .3 1 6 KH PO, .152 NaHCO 2.260 KCl .375

MgSO 1 12 NaCl .3 75 CaCl .03 8 FeSO -7H O .008 Mnso .004 ZHSO47H2O V CuSO -5H O .002 CoCl .001

The resulting mixture was adjusted to pH 6.8 (4 N HCi). To the buffered rumen fluid was added milligrams of the acrolein dimthyl acetal treated protein prepared above. The flask was then purged with nitrogen, stoppered (pressure release valve) and heated at 38 C. on a water shaker bath. Protection of protein from digestion was determined by ammonia production with a lower amount of ammonia production indicating a lower amount of digestion of protein. Ammonia production was determined after 6 hours and after 24 hours with results being presented in Table l.

Abomasum digestion test Gastric fluid was prepared as follows: NaCl (2 grams) was dissolved in sufficient water to give a total volume of 950 milliliters. Pepsin (3.2 grams) was added thereto. Concentrated hydrochloric acid (7 milliliters) was added to the resulting medium and the pH of the medium was then adjusted to 2.0 with aqueous sodium hydroxide.

To a glass flask containing 20 milliliters of the gastric fluid were added 60 milligrams of acrolein dimethyl acetal treated casein prepared above. The glass flask containing the resulting mixture was stoppered with pressure release valves and heated at 38 C. on a water shaker bath for 2 hours. Digestion of protein was then determined 'by ammonia analysis, the greater amount of ammonia produced the greater the amount of protein digested. The results are given in Table 1.

Intestine digestion test Intestinal fluid was prepared as (follows: NaCl (2 grams) was dissolved in suflicient water to give a total volume of 950 milliliters. Pepsin (3.2 grams) was added thereto. Concentrated hydrochloric acid (7 milliliters) was added to the medium and the pH of the medium was then adjusted to 7.0 with 0.1 N sodium hydroxide. Pancreatin (10 milligrams per milliliter of medium) was added to the resulting medium.

To a glass flask containing 20 milliliters of the intestinal fluid were added 60 milligrams of acrolein dimethyl acetal treated casein prepared above. The glass flask was stoppered with pressure release valves and heated at 38 C. on a water shaker bath, for the prescribed period of time. Digestion of protein was determined by ammonia analysis, the greater amount of ammonia produced the greater amount of protein digested. The results are given in Table l.

EXAMPLES 2-5.

Following the general procedures and tests of Example 1 acrolein dimethyl acetal treated casein samples were prepared and tested. The results are given in Table 1.

In the same manner other protein-containing materials; may be reacted with acrolein acetals to protect the protein: material lfIOIll digestive breakdown in the rumen while permitting its digestion in the abomasum and intestines.

EXAMPLE 6 Acrolein dibenzyl acetal treated casein containing 0.001 mole acrolein dibenzyl acetal per gram of protein is resistant to digestion in the rumen but is readily digested in the abornasum.

EXAMPLE 7 Acrolein dipropyl acetal treated casein containing 0.001 mole acrolein dipropyl acetal per gram of protein is resistant to digestion in the fluid of the rumen but is readily digested in the fluid of the abomasum and in the fluid of the intestines.

EXAMPLE 8 Acrolein dioctadecyl acetal treated casein containing 0.001 mole acrolein dioctadecyl acetal per gram of protein is resistant to digestion in the fluid of the rumen but is readily digested in the fluid of the abomasum and in the fluid of the intestines.

Since many embodiments of this invention may be made and since many changes may be made in the embodiments described, the foregoing is to be interpreted as illustrative only and the invention is defined by the claims appended hereto.

TABLE 1 Percent total protein digested Moles acrolein, Ammonia N Ammonia N acetal] rnmen, hours Ammonia N intestine, hours Example gram abomasum, Number casein 6 24 2 hours 4 20 1 Due at least; in part to decomposition of rumen microorganisms.

I claim:

1. A method for improving the protein utilization of ruminant animals which comprises feeding the ruminant animal a complex of a protein-containing nutrient feed material selected from the group consisting of silage, grain, nuts, chaffs, casein, soy bean meal, fish meal, peanut meal,

beef scraps, pork scraps, linseed meal and milk solids and an acrolein acetal of the formula /OR CH2=CH-CH wherein R represents a radical selected from the group consisting of alkyl having 1 to 18 carbon atoms, benzyl and ethyl phenyl, the amount of acrolein acetal in said complex being in the range of from about 0.001 to about 0.01 mole per gram of protein, said amount being sufficient to render said feed material resistant to digestive breakdown in the fluid 01 the rumen but insufiicient to prevent substantial digestive breakdown in the fluids of the abomasum and of the intestines.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the acrolein acetal is acrolein dimethyl acetal.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the amount of acrolein acetal is in the range 01f from about 00005 to about 0.007 mole per gram of protein.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,841,797 1/1932 Ernst et al. 260-117 2,583,574 1/1952 Jones et al. 260119 3,619,200 11/1971 Ferguson 9926 OTHER REFERENCES Chem. Abstracts 1969, p. 16, 216, Interaction of Aldehydes with Collagen.

Chem. Abstracts, v. 72, 1970, 624 5, Reactive Particles for Biological Reactions.

NORMAN YUDKO'FF, Primary Examiner H. H. BERNSTEIN, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 260-117, 119 

